UNIVERSIDADES PÚBLICAS DE LA COMUNIDAD DE MADRID

PRUEBA DE ACCESO A ESTUDIOS UNIVERSITARIOS (LOGSE)

Curso 2009-2010 (Junio)
MATERIA: INGLÉS
INSTRUCCIONES GENERALES Y VALORACIÓN
l. Lea todo el texto cuidadosamente.
2. Lea atentamente todas las preguntas de la prueba.
3. Proceda a responder en lengua inglesa a las preguntas en el papel de examen.
TIEMPO: 1 hora y 30 minutos.
CALIFICACIÓN: La puntuación máxima de la prueba es de 10 puntos.

OPCIÓN A

The truth about bears

The wildlife biologist, John Rogers, had spent thousands of hours studying North America's
black bears. He shot them with tranquilisers before fitting them with radio collars. He took their
blood and studied their DNA. And he tracked their movements and marked them on maps. But
none of that had allowed him to really know the creatures.

Rogers finally decided that he couldn't hope to know bears unless he won their trust. And so he
abandoned scientific detachment and took the controversial step of forming relationships with
his study animals, using food to gain acceptance among an extended bear family in Minnesota.
Now, he has abandoned almost everything he knew, or thought he knew, about bears. They do
not like honey. They are not even that crazy about berries or nuts, if they have a choice of larvae
in a tree trunk.

And they are not dangerous. "In all my 42 years of working closely with bears, 1 have not found
a way of getting a bear to attack. The more I push, the more they try to get away. If they wave
their arms aggressively, it's just a way to keep me at a distance while they find a way to escape.
1t's humans who are the more dangerous animals", he said. "If you look at statistics, one black
bear out of a million kills somebody. Among humans, it's one person out of 18,000 who kills
somebody. So you could see why 1 would feel a lot less comfortable in the city than in the
woods next to a bear."
QUESTIONS

1. Are the following statements TRUE or FALSE? Copy the evidence from the text. No
marks are given for only TRUE or FALSE.
a) The biologist collected factual information about bears, like the area where
they lived and travelled around.
b) Making close contact with your object of study is normal in scientific
research.
(Puntuación máxima 2 puntos)

a) TRUE: The wildlife biologist, John Rogers, had spent thousands of

hours studying North America's black bears. He shot them with
tranquilisers before fitting them with radio collars. He took their blood
and studied their DNA. And the tracked their movements and marked
them on maps.
b) FALSE: he abandoned scientific detachment and took the controversial
step of forming relationships with his study animals.

Autor: Patricia Herrero Pinilla

 2. In your own words and based on the ideas in the text, answer the following questions.
Do not copy from the text.
a) What has the biologist discovered about the bear's diet?
b) Why does he think hurnans are dangerous?
(Puntuación máxima 2 puntos)

a) He has discovered that almost everything that he thought about bears is

false, such as: They don't like honey and they prefer a larvae found in
tress than berries or nuts. And the most important thing: they are not
dangerous.
b) He thinks that humans are dangerous because statistics show that while it
is too difficult a bear kills someone, there is one person out of 18,000
who kills another one.

3. Find the words in the text that mean:

a) animals (paragraph 1) creatures
b) confidence (paragraph 2) trust
c) distance (paragraph 2) detachment
d) move (in the air) (paragraph 3) wave
(Puntuación máxima: 1 punto)

4. Complete the following sentences. Use the appropriate form of the word in brackets
when given.

a) Everybody ___1___ (believe) that bears love ___2___ (eat) honey.

b) If we want to know the real facts ___3___ animals, we ___4___ study them
in action.
Rewrite the sentences starting with the words given:
c) It's not necessary to dissect an animal to know a lot about it.
You... 5
d) When Rogers went near the bear, he called to it "Don't worry, bear!"
Rogers told .... 6
(Puntuación máxima 2 puntos)

1. believes (the indefinite pronouns such everybody, somebody, someone, etc. are
used with singular verbs).
2. eating (pattern verbs can only be used with the –ing form or the ‘to’ infinitive)
3. about (preposition used to give information on the subject or concerning
something).
4. shall study (1st conditional form).
5. don’t need to dissect an animal to know a lot about it.
6. the bear not to worry (imperative indirect speech).

Autor: Patricia Herrero Pinilla

 5. Write about 100 to 150 words on one of the following topics.

a) Pets in city flats? Argue for or against.

(Puntuación máxima 3 puntos)

First of all, I would like to say that my parents have never let me to have a pet at home,
and the reason that they told me was that pets should never live in apartments.
On one hand, it is to think that pets could eventually feel bounded if they are not able to
go and to move in the countryside. Generally, when you think in animals, the first idea
that comes to mind is the wildlife or the animals' freedom. In my opinion, things should
always be this way, because this is the way they live within the Mother Nature. Animals
are born free and they should grow free… Unfortunately, this doesn't always work like
this… On the other hand, we shouldn’t forget that most population in developed
countries lives in towns or cities and so do children. Growing with a pet is a very
positive thing for little children because it helps to develop their responsibilities by
looking after their pets and taking care of them, and it’s also positive for developing
children’s imagination and creativity, and many other values like fellowship, friendship,
etc… It’s also very positive to develop children’s personality in terms of faithfulness
(we may learn so much about it with pets) or even unconditional love.
To sum up, we should consider that animals may not feel very comfortable if they live
in a closed place like an apartment, but it is very advisable to live in one with a garden
even if it is shared with other neighbors, which could be an intermediate solution to
taking care of a pet in a city or town.

Autor: Patricia Herrero Pinilla

OPCIÓN B

India's Economic Revival

The idea that India is a poor country is a relatively recent one. Historically, South Asia was
always famous as the richest region of the globe. Ever since the great Greek conqueror
Alexander penetrated the Hindu Kush in 329 B.C., Europeans fantasized about the wealth of
these lands where precious jewels were said to lie scattered on the ground like dust.

During the 17th century, the Indian Mughal emperors were rivalled only by their Ming
counterparts in China. For their contemporaries in distant Europe, they were potent symbols of
power and wealth. By the 17th century, Lahore had grown even larger and richer than
Constantinople and, with its two million inhabitants, was much bigger than either London or
Paris.

What changed was the advent of European colonialism Following Vasco da Gama's discovery
of the sea route to the East in 1498, European colonial traders to India - first the Portuguese,
then the Dutch and finally the British - slowly destroyed the old trading network and imposed a
Western imperial system of economics. It was only at the very end of the 18th century that
Europe had for the first time in history a favourable balance of trade with Asia. The era of
Indian economic decline had begun. By 1870, at the peak of the British dominion, India had
been reduced for the first time to a Third World nation, a symbol across the globe of famine,
poverty and deprivation.

Then, what is happening today with the rise of India and China is not some miraculous novelty -
as it is usually depicted in the Western press - so much as a return to the traditional pattern of
global trade in the medieval and ancient world.

QUESTIONS

1. Are the following statements TRUE or FALSE? Copy the evidence from the text. No
marks are given for only TRUE or FALSE.
a) In the past, people in the Western world dreamed about the treasures in
South Asia.
b) While India was ruled by the British it became a typical example of
underdevelopment.
(Puntuación máxima 2 puntos)

a) TRUE: Historically, South Asia was always famous as the richest region of the
globe. Ever since, the great Greek conqueror Alexander penetrated the Hindu
Kush in 329 B.C., Europeans fantasized about the wealth of these lands
where precious jewels were said to lie scattered on the ground like dust.
b) TRUE: By 1870, at the peak of the British dominion, India had been
reduced for the first time to a Third World nation, a symbol across the
globe of famine, poverty and deprivation.

2. In your own words and based on the ideas in the text, answer the following questions.
Do not copy from the text.
a) Why are the Chinese emperors of the Ming dynasty mentioned in the
text?
b) What kind of influence did the Portuguese, Dutch and British have on
India?
(Puntuación máxima 2 puntos)

Autor: Patricia Herrero Pinilla

 a) Because their dynasty was the only one who rivaled the Mughall Emperors
to show the power of the Eastern Empire
b) They declined the old system of Indian trading, by setting a new Western
and imperial one.

3. Find the words in the text that mean:

a) riches (paragraph 1) jewels
b) powder (paragraph 1) wealth
c) highest point (paragraph 3) peak
d) hunger (paragraph 3) famine
(Puntuación máxima: 1 punto)

4. Complete the following sentences. Use the appropriate form of the word in brackets
when given.
a) India is a country in South Asia ___1___ comprises most of the Indian
subcontinent. The Ganges is the ___2___ (long) river in India.
b) The term "colony" comes ___3___ the Latin colonia, which originally
___4___ (mean) a place for agricultural activities.
c) "How ___5___ does it take to fly from London to India?"
"It ___6___ (take) around nine hours."
d) The Ming dynasty began in 1368, and lasted until l644 AD. ___7___
founder was a peasant who became Emperor after ___8___ (defeat) the
Mongols and the Yuan Dynasty.
(Puntuación máxima 2 puntos)

1. which (relative pronoun used to talk about things, its antecedent is country in
South Asia).
2. longest (superlative of a short adjective).
3. from (typical collocation of the verb come).
4. meaned (past simple, because the sentence uses an adverb of past time:
"originally").
5. long (wh- question mark used to ask about time length).
6. takes (present simple uses a final –s to the singular third person).
7. Its (Possesive used to describe possession of things).
8. defeating (After all preposition except to we always use the –ing form).

Autor: Patricia Herrero Pinilla

 5. Write about 100 to 150 words on one of the following topics.

a) What distant or exotic country would you like to visit? Give reasons for
your choice.
(Puntuación máxima 3 puntos)

I would like travelling to any other place in the world, and to enjoy it so much. The
destination is not such an important thing but meeting the culture and the people living
there.

Considering this fact, thinking about trips to exotic places is so an attractive experience
for me, that I would love to be always travelling and visiting new places. One of the
places I would like to go the most is Tahiti. Tahiti is a country placed in the Polinesia,
which is a well-known environment that covers some islands like Hawaii (which
belongs to USA) and many other islands which are dedicated to tourism. I cannot easily
explain why I would want to visit this country, but the thing is that the other day I was
watching a TV documentary about this country with Spanish people living there, and I
automatically fell in love with it and I decided that I want to go there. It is not only
because of the beaches or the specific tourism product, but because of their traditions,
their peace and, of course, their lifestyle. What I mean, is that it is not so important
visiting very popular places, or very tourist ones, but there are some places in the world
which are not so popular but it is absolutely advisable to go for enjoying their beauty.
In conclusion, Tahiti is one of the places that I would love to visit, but maybe because
of the exoticism, is one of the places I would like to visit the most.

More frequent expressions to do the writing:

INTRODUCTION
- The purpose of this report
- The aim of this report
- This report looks at
- First of all
- As an introduction I would like to say
- Firstly
- To begin with

MAIN BODY
- One of the main advantages/disadvantages of…
- Secondly
- From my point of view
- In my opinion
- I think/I feel that…
- On the one hand… on the other hand…

Autor: Patricia Herrero Pinilla

CONCLUSION
- In conclusion
- To sum up
- On balance
- Last but not least

CONECTORS (TO JOIN SENTENCES)

- Although
- However
- In spite of (this)
- Some people… while/whereas others…

RELATED VOCABULARY

Bounded: encerrado, enclaustrado.

Wildlife: Vida salvaje
Mother Nature: Madre Naturaleza
Fellowship: Compañerismo
Faithfulness: Fidelidad
Advisable: Aconsejable
Tourism: Turismo
Pace: Ritmo de vida
Lifestyle: Estilo de vida
Exoticism: Exotismo.

Autor: Patricia Herrero Pinilla